01810cam a22002777 4500001000700000003000500007005001700012008004100029100001900070245009800089260006600187490004200253500001800295520060900313530006100922538007200983538003601055690008101091690012901172700002001301700001701321710004201338830007701380856003801457856003701495w10216NBER20171213200326.0171213s2004 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aAmeriks, John.14aThe Absent-Minded Consumerh[electronic resource] /cJohn Ameriks, Andrew Caplin, John Leahy. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc2004.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w10216 aJanuary 2004.3 aWe present evidence that many households have only a vague notion of what they are spending on various consumption items. We then develop a life-cycle model that captures this absent-mindedness'. The model generates precautionary spending, whereby absent-minded agents tend to consume more than attentive ones. The model also predicts fluctuations over time in the level of attention, and thereby sheds new light on the sharp reduction in consumption both at retirement, and in cyclical downturns. Finally, we find patterns of attention in the data that are consistent with those predicted by the model. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web. 7aD9 - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics2Journal of Economic Literature class. 7aE2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy2Journal of Economic Literature class.1 aCaplin, Andrew.1 aLeahy, John.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w10216.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w1021641uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w10216